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Planning application process

Pre application meetings

The Development Management Service welcomes and encourages discussions before a planning application is submitted. By using this service you will be able to:

• increase your chances of submitting a successful application
• find out if your proposal is acceptable 'in principle'
• find out how we apply our planning policies
• identify aspects of your proposal that may need to be amended or reconsidered
• establish a dialogue with the Planning Service
• reduce the time taken to consider your planning application in some cases
• reduce costs associated with time spent by your own professionals in some cases
• reduce costs associated with delays from problems or information requests in some cases
• identify information you will need to include with your application.

How do I arrange a meeting?

Prior to arranging a meeting you will need to send us details of your proposal, by either:

• E-mail
• town.planning@calderdale.gov.uk
• Or post
• Planning Services
  Northgate House
  Halifax HX1 1UN.

We will then write to inform you which planning officer will deal with your enquiry. (The planning officer's direct telephone line will be on the top of this letter.) You can then call to arrange a convenient appointment time. This allows the officer dealing with your enquiry the opportunity to assess your proposal, so that your meeting is as productive as possible.

Sometimes the planning issues may be easy to identify, in which case a meeting may not be needed. The planning officer will be able to advise about this when you telephone. Where it is agreed that a meeting would be appropriate you will be given a slot of up to 1 hour.

What information will I have to submit?

To assist us in providing you with the most informed advice you will need to provide the following details at least 5 working days before the date of the meeting:

• The location of your proposal.
  It would be beneficial if you could provide a map so that we can ensure we obtain property history information and the Development Plan allocation for the right site.
• The nature of your proposal.
  The more information you provide the better informed our advice will be.  This should include plans if you have them and / or a description of what your proposal will look like (eg materials and design) as well as the scale of it (e.g. two storey, 25 dwellings, 3000sq metres etc), what it will be used for and the intensity of this use (eg, care home for 30 residents, 40  seater restaurant) how you will access the site and what proposals you have for parking, whether any trees / footpaths will be affected, whether the proposal will be noisy / emit smells, and any other issue that you think might be relevant.

What should I expect from the service?

During the meeting the issues relevant to your proposal will be discussed with an appropriate Planning Officer. The Planning Officer will provide guidance on the acceptability of your proposal, identify issues of concern, point out if further information is going to be required as well as possible amendments to bring your proposal in line with policy. The Planning Officer will make a note of the key issues / conclusions and identify a way forward.

You and any other attendees will then be asked to sign the notes as an accurate record of the meeting.

These notes will then be reviewed by a senior officer. This officer will add any comments that they have to this record and if they disagree with the conclusions reached they will make a note of this explaining why and the best way forward.

Details of any validation requirements based on the information submitted will also be added to this record.

A copy of this record will then be forwarded to you within 5 working days of the meeting.

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